VOLUME 56, ISSUE 1 222 Memorial Drive Berlin, WI 54923
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2024
The
Red ‘n’ Green
A BERLIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OPEN FORUM SINCE 1924 By the numbers Scholarship Night
$200,950 The amount of scholarship money given away
3-4
Total number of months high school secertary Laura Sobieski spends organizing scholarship night
5
Groups that have been giving scholarships yearly since 1976
$12,000 Dale and Marion Norstrant trust is the largest scholarship
51 The number of students that applied for scholarships
2-3
Seniors awarded on Scholarship Night Tess Kujawa
Editor-in-Chief
The annual Senior Scholarship Night was held on May 15. $200,950 of community scholarships was given away to 51 students. High school secretary Laura Sobieski coordinates the program and has been involved with it since 2001. “There are many types of scholarships that we present at our program. Some scholarships are from outside organizations that use their own applications, criteria, etc. We have the BCSC (Berlin Community Scholarship Corporation) that presents scholarships. These two groups manage the scholarships on their own,” Sobieski said. “Then we have the Berlin High School senior scholarships and those include scholarships that have been endowed or bequeathed to the BASD as well as from donors, clubs, organizations, and families.” The seniors who win these scholarships use them in a variety of different ways to help them achieve their goals. Some will use the scholarships won to further their education while others will use them to enter a trade. “I will be using the scholarships I won for elementary education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse,” senior Maddie Coats, who won $17,000 in total, said. While some scholarships were available for every student who applied, there were many that were created to be given to a specific type of student, like one who is a student
Senior Kate Femali receives the Connie Curran scholarship of $10,000. "It feels pretty great. I mean, people are giving you money; what's not great about that?" Femali said. Photo: Tess Kujawa athlete or a student who is going to pursue education. “I won scholarships specifically for agriculture and I’m going to UWRiver Falls for ag,” senior Layten Sobieski, who won a total of $10,250, said. To apply for scholarships there is one online application for both the school and community scholarships. “(The application) comes out in March to the whole senior class. You fill out this big application, write a short little essay about yourself, and boom,” senior Kate Femali, who won $10,750 in total, said.
While the process is very simple for the seniors, it can be a laborintensive process for the ones who put it all together. “I work on this for approximately three to four months. I start in February by contacting scholarship donors,” Laura said. “In March, the senior class has the opportunity to complete the Berlin High School Senior Scholarship application. In April, the scholarship committees and scholarship donors review the applications and start making their choices. In early May we have our final scholarship selection. Then I start putting the program together
Rilling, Bruce-DeMuri named co-valedictorian, Budde named salutatorian Autumn Nikolai
Reporter
The class of ‘24 covaledictorians and salutatorian will deliver speeches at the graduation ceremony on Friday evening. Seniors Macey Rilling and Camille Bruce-DeMuri are tied for valedictorian. Senior Alexandra Budde is salutatorian. As co-valedictorians, Rilling and Bruce-DeMuri will speak about the future and Budde as salutatorian will give a speech about the past. “My speech is going to be about the memories and achievements our class shared as a whole. It’s also going to
have some advice,” Budde said. Bruce-DeMuri and Rilling are giving their speeches together. These positions are given to the people that maintain the highest GPA throughout their high school career. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t go into it for the title. My goals for high school were to finish with all A’s and to take a lot of honors classes to set myself up well for college. When I found out junior year that I was at the top of the class, I was driven to work harder,” Budde said. Rilling said that she took as many honors classes as possible to boost her GPA. She also had a simple strategy to maintain her
grades. “Never procrastinate on your work and use your class time to complete your work,” Rilling said. Maintaining a high GPA takes a lot of hard work. The highest GPA students can graduate with is a 4.0 and the lowest is 1.0. “Maintaining a high GPA took a lot of dedication. I had to have a lot of willpower to keep pushing myself when my workload became more and more,” BruceDeMuri said. Keeping a high GPA throughout high school can seem challenging, but Budde’s advice to the younger grades is to work hard to set themselves
Scholarships that go unclaimed each year
up for the future. She says the assignments that seem miserable or boring now will pay off in the end. Bruce-DeMuri says she encourages students to get involved. “The advice I would give to my classmates is to enjoy the bits of high school we have left. This is such a special time and we should cherish it. The advice I would give to the classes below me is to stay involved. It is so important to broaden your horizons as much as you can in high school. Some of my best memories came from my extracurriculars,” Bruce-DeMuri said.
In this
Issue...
- Senior map pg. 2 - Senior's unique career path pg. 2
Source: High School Secretary Laura Sobieski Created by Autumn Nikolai
for the middle of May.” For a small community, Berlin offers a large number of scholarships. “We are very fortunate to have a strong alumni association, along with very generous organizations that feel strongly about our graduating seniors and providing financial assistance in the way of scholarships,” Laura said. As for the seniors, there was a general feeling of gratitude and accomplishment in the auditorium. “Thank you to the community for the awesome support they provide for all of us,” Layten said.
- Sports achievments pg. 4 Co-Valedictorian Macey Rilling
Co-Valedictorian Camille Bruce-DeMuri
Salutatorian Alexandra Budde